During the last week, undeclared power cuts, especially between 10 pm and 11.30 pm, have become a routine affair across certain urban centres in Kerala, including the capital. However, the LDF government has not yet greenlighted the KSEB demand for a scattered half-hour load-shedding across Kerala during peak hours from 6 pm to 11 pm.
Nonetheless, a decision on load-shedding looks inevitable. In all probability a decision would be taken after a high-level meeting on May 2. Power minister K Krishnankutty is in favour of load-shedding to tide over the summer. "Unless there is some control, we will have to suffer collectively," the minister told reporters on Tuesday.
According to KSEB officials, excessive power consumption during peak hours is causing electrical lines to trip. "We have no choice but to temporarily cut supply to areas where there is uncontrolled usage so that the feeders are not overloaded to a dangerous degree," a top KSEB Transmission wing official said. Despite the precaution, the official said over 600 transformers had failed as a result of overloading.
KSEB seems to have a point. On April 29, Kerala's power consumption was 113.16 million units, the highest ever. With the summer heat keeping at an unprecedented high, and a growing number of people purchasing airconditioners, this record is bound to be broken in the coming days.
It is the fourth time this month that power consumption had crossed 110 MU; it was 110.10 MU on April 8, 111.79 MU on April 9, and 110.14 MU on April 27. Last year, the record power consumption was 103 MU on April 19.
April 29 also set the record for the highest peak-hour demand in history: 5646 MW. Last summer, the higher peak-hour demand was 5024 MW, on April 19.
More than airconditioners and other cooling gadgets, it is electric vehicles that are pushing power consumption up like never before. KSEB has specifically exhorted consumers not to charge e-vehicles during peak hours, between 6 pm and 11 pm.
Just to get a sense of the power guzzled when an electric scooter is charged, see the number of electronic gadgets that could be operated for six hours at a stretch with the same power: two 9-watt LED bulb, two 20-watt LED tube, two 30-watt BLDC (energy-efficient brushless direct current motor) fans, and one-tonne five star AC.
On top of this demand side burden is KSEB's supply side constraints. At a time when consumption is surging, the utility is forced to increase its hydel generation at the risk of sucking up the water in its dams to an alarming level. This can precipitate a crisis if the summer extends beyond May.
Already, the water level in Kerala's dams have fallen way below normal. For instance, last year same time, there was enough water in Idukki reservoir, the largest in Kerala, to generate 875 MU. But now, there is water to generate just 698 MU.
